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© 2008 Dan Perlman
Casa SaltShaker
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Chef: Dan Perlman
Host: Henry Tapia
February 29 - March 1, 2008
Given that it only happens every four years, there was simply no question in my mind that a Casa SaltShaker dinner on the weekend of February 29th had to involve the leap year. It may be cliche, it may have been the easy way out in picking a theme, but so be it. I still had to come up with a menu. Leaping, Jumping, Gamboling, all those good synonyms seemed like a good place to start. Frogs, Kangaroo…? Hmmm… there weren’t any frogs’ legs available in Chinatown when I checked, and I don’t think anyone is yet importing marsupial meat…
Thoughts from some of our guests:
"D... & I had a great time last night. We enjoyed the food, the guests and the atmosphere. More like a dinner party than a restaurant. We will see you next time we are in BA and will be happy to recommend
SaltShaker to any of our friends who are coming here." - L.C."Thanks for a really superb meal last night, with some truly memorable wines. Best meal I have had in a very long time!" - R.H.
"You are very talented and we enjoyed ourselves enormously. I'm so glad that you called us." - A.E.
"Thank you for opening your home to us and the other 'invitees', we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. The food was fantastic and we still can't believe you make your own bread and tortillas and pastries! Yum! It may be just that we've been missing spicy food on this trip, but even though it might have been too much for the two Argentine women who wouldn't eat it, the soup was just perfect for us, do you share recipes? I know that for you it must be a gamble to have people from all over the world come to your house and hope they all get along, but the mix of people was great fun, even the woman from xxx who seemed to want to pick everything apart, was she some kind of food critic?" - N.G. [see below for comments from "the woman from xxx", and no, as far as I know, she's not a food critic, though works in some sort of event/party planning, so, I suppose, related - Dan]
"Thanks so much for following up.....we had a TERRIFIC time last weekend with you and Henry and the other ten people! The food was delicious, and the menu was so inventive and fun. We loved your explanations of each course, and and the wine pairings added an additional dimension. We also really enjoyed the conversation - and the concept of bringing people together like that over a communal table. We just wish we would have discovered you earlier, so we could have come to another Casa Salt Shaker event. Only idea for further improving an almost perfect evening would be to invite everyone to do a short introduction of themselves before sitting down to dinner - maybe with some pretty specific guidelines and questions (e.g. no more than one minute answering the questions like where are they from, what do they do, what are the most interested in learning about or doing in Argentina). I was aware, I didn't actually gete to talk with everyone before sitting down, and it would be a nice way of connecting all...and could influence where people might want to position themselves at the dinner table. Thanks again for a wonderful evening! We truly enjoyed every minute of it!" - B.M.
"L... and I thoroughly enjoyed our evening at Casa Saltshaker. The food was excellent and it was great to meet some interesting new people. We will definately be back next time we are in Buenos Aires. Thanks again." - G.D.
Not everyone loves us..., though, I question when someone claims to speak for the other people at the dinner - especially given the other comments - and things like, hmm... I do/did join the guests to chat both before and at the end of the meal:
"I was most disappointed by the both the food and ambience for the evening (although in no way relate this to the guests as realise this element is completely pot luck). You have received so much positive press it was a great shame that the evening did not meet expectations and unfortunately the sentiment was shared by several of the other guests that night. The taco was ordinary, soup disappointing and lamb although very tender was very salty. I would rather have paid more and had less dishes that were more special or even just a stunning guacamole without the taco for instance. I have been told by several locals that you are a great cook. The same goes for the wines of which I thought the San Telmo red was the only one effectively worth drinking. Charge us more for a more interesting selection this is your speciality. I think what you do is great and as a guest it would perhaps be interesting if you had a welcome drink with guests at the beginning or sat down with us at the end of the meal as most people who come have to your house have an interest in food, wine, restaurants and your experiences in BA. I have asked a couple of concierges at boutique hotels since about visiting Casa saltshaker for dinner and they all have said not had such good reports back recently. You have a great reputation and a unique opportunity to up the ante. Please do yourself proud." - C.M.
